Customer Project & Feedback - Dr. Who Scarf

Some of you are probably aware (as one of our patiently waiting customers) that we've had an overwhelming number of orders in the past couple of weeks for yarns to create Dr. Who scarves. Just this week many of those orders finally went out in the mail - hooray! Some of the Brown Sheep Nature Spun Worsted and Nature Spun Sport colors have been on back-order for weeks due to demand!

We just received a wonderful note in the mail from our customer Sidney, telling us about her scarf:

She wrote:

"Dear Ladies - Despite the fact that you were overwhelmed

with orders for Brown Sheep wool to make the infamous 

'Dr. Who' scarf, you remained calm and helpful. My inquiries 

as to the back-ordered yarns were satisfactorily answered

 - so you have made me a customer for life!   

Thought you might like to see the scarf with still two 

and a half feet to go, being modeled by me. 

I made the whole scarf in six days and it got to 

my 43 year old grandson just in time for the bitter weather. 

Thank you for your help."

She included a photograph - she still had 2.5 feet to go, but it looks amazing!

And in 6 Days!? Her grandson is over 6 feet tall :) Sidney, thanks so much for sharing this with us!

For those of you who are not familiar with the Dr. Who scarf craze you can find more information here.

Long Overdue

So we all have projects that are unfinished. And some have been sitting around longer than others. I recently came across a project that was so close to being completed that I vowed to finish it. And I did.

Five years ago I was making a hooked rug from a drawing that my daughters (then ages 8 and 8) had done. They wanted a welcome sign for our mudroom and thought that if they made a drawing of our family, I could transfer the drawing onto linen, and hook it. Helen immediately set out to draw the figures, and Sophie wrote the word "Welcome" in cursive (her newest skill at the time), drew the sun, and contributed landscape ideas. More about the process here. And I started hooking. Here's a shot of it when I started. There's something adorable about a drawing - made by young kids - brought to life!

I worked hard on the rug, and finished about 90% of it. I had a really hard time hooking the faces, so I set it aside for over a year. Then, two years ago, I realized that I needed to make some progress, so I enlisted the help of Michele, our resident rug hooking expert. She took it home with her and completed the faces and the hair for me, doing an excellent job. 

And so I packed up the rug and brought it here to Finland, thinking that during our time here, I'd definitely finish it. Now we've been here almost 2 years, and of course, I haven't touched it! But we're moving back to Vermont in just a couple of months, and I've been doing some packing. I came across the rug and when I opened it up and realized just how little was left to finish, I gave myself a good scolding. I immediately put down all knitting projects and made a deal with myself that I couldn't knit until I finished this rug. After all, wouldn't a Welcome sign look great in our new entryway in Vermont? I think so.

It only took me a couple of hours to finish the parts of the sky that were remaining. 

And then I had to finish the edges - that took another couple of hours. Luckily, I had grabbed a skein of Manos Rittenhouse (now discontinued) in the perfect color to edge the rug.

The girls are thrilled that it's finished. Of course, Sophie said, "Well, it's perfect except for one thing. The cats aren't in it." 

Don't worry Sophie, they may not be in it. But they're ON it.

BAD Lucy! Put those claws away!

What claws!?

And they've proven that they like my rug hooking projects JUST as much as they like my knitting projects.

And Maisy likes it too.

Luckily they won't be able to do this when it's hanging on my wall! Now, back to the knitting!

Customer Project - Mr. Greenjeans

Elyse -- one of our online customers -- sent us photos of a wonderful finished sweater!

This is Mr. Greenjeans by Amy Swenson, published as a free pattern in Knitty, Fall 2007.

 What an amazing fit, and the color is a knockout!

I love the beautiful cabled & rib border. Elyse used Tilli Tomas Pure & Simple yarn in the Ruby Wine colorway. Thanks for sharing!

Manos Fino Yarn

We recently met with our Manos sales rep and saw two brand new Manos yarns. Did we order both? Well, of course. You know we love Manos - from worsted weights Wool Clasica & Maxima, to the lighter-weights Silk Blend & Serena, to the laceweight Lace. And now we'll have two more additions to the Manos team!

Last week we received Manos Fino, a lighter-weight silk and merino wool blend that knits at 6-7 stitches to the inch. 

We've got 6 colors in stock with two more on the way shortly. This yarn comes in subtle tonal colors and it's absolutely gorgeous. I'm trying to pick a shawl/scarf pattern. Each skein has 490 yards, so I'm liking it for one skein projects!

We've got the Manos Alegria on order too. This is a new hand painted sock yarn and the colors are super fun! We'll let you know when it arrives. It's sure to make a splash!

New Manos Shipment

We just received a shipment from Manos the other day with some gorgeous new colors of Serena and Manos Lace. These are two yarns we sell a LOT of, and we always love bringing in new colors!

We got 4 new colors of Manos Lace. This yarn is perfect for the Featherweight Cardigan, the Wispy Cardigan or the Faceted Gems Lace Wrap.

And we got 7 new colors of Serena, and now offer a total of 26 colors (16 semi solids and 10 multis). I just LOVE the combination of these new shades. 

Need a project idea?  Serena is perfect for the Signs of Spring Cowl, the Citron Shawl and the Moore Sweater. 

Stay tuned... our next post will be about the new Manos YARN that we just received. Patience, patience! We are still working on the photographs. It's worth the wait!

Organic Cotton for Baby

You already know we've received Classic Elite Seedling in the hand painted colors, but I wanted to share with you my experience with this yarn.

I'm not a big cotton fan. I always have to go down at least 2 needle sizes to get gauge with cotton yarns. This isn't such a big deal - I mean the number of stitches you are knitting on, whether you are using an 8 or a 6, is the same. But what makes it less-than-enjoyable for me, is the pain I feel in my hands when I'm knitting cotton on a small needle. And now that I've hit my mid-40's I'm feeling every ache and pain. Why give myself more pain if I can avoid it?

But I was in the shop after Christmas and I was looking at some of the new yarns we've received for spring. I pulled a skein of each of the new hand painted Seedlings from the shelf, and was amazed at how soft they were! For some reason, I always thought this yarn had a rougher feel to it. I was so wrong!

We used to sell some similar looking cotton yarns with nubbly textures like this and they were, indeed, rougher to the touch. That must have been what I was thinking about when I was "imagining" the hand of the Seedling. Luckily my imagination has now been replaced with a wonderful reality. This is some seriously smooth and soft fiber.

I pulled a copy of the new Yankee Knitter Baby Sweaters, Hats & Blankets #31 pattern and grabbed 3 skeins of color #4566 Lei. It's fun combination of pink and orange with a hint of avocado green thrown in! From the pattern, I chose to make the sweater: a super simple top down raglan cardigan. The thing I liked the best was that when you finished the yoke, the pattern tells you to work the sleeves FIRST, before the body. What's so smart about this? Well, it eliminates stitch holders, for one. And two? You can work the entire piece on a straight needle. Smart thinking!

I whipped up the size 3-6 month sweater in no time, and was pleased to discover that to get gauge, I only had to drop one needle size. My hands are pain free, too! I started the hat this morning and it should be finished soon.

And... if you like hand paints, there are some great colors from which to choose:

New Year, New Project, New Colors

I hope 2013 is off to a great start for everybody! Sorry for the blog silence - holiday travel this year was hectic and once it was over, it took a while to figure out what state/country/time zone I was in!

When I was at the shop after Christmas I fell in love with one of our latest samples. The Macrame Scarf (find the free pattern through this link) is knit with just 2 skeins of Araucania Lontue, and it's a truly beautiful piece. (Shown below in color: Lime Yellow.)

I love how it's big enough to be draped over the shoulders and worn as a shawl, but scrunchy enough to be doubled up and worn as a scarf. The stitch is reminiscent of macramé, and the fringe is super cool!

The Lontue is a hand dyed blend of linen and cotton and is perfect for year round wear. Our e-newsletter last week featured this piece, and I guess I wasn't alone in loving it! We sold out of all colors of the yarn!

Don't worry, 2 are back in stock (Lime Yellow and Fire Fly) and on Friday we received 2 brand new colors: Olive Blue Denim and Lavendar Olive Violet. All colors are on order and will be back in stock shortly. 

If any of you took advantage of the special price on Lontue last week, and are making this shawl, please send us pictures!

SPOTTED

...in a lingerie shop window in Paris, Rue de Rivoli near Hôtel de Ville.

Not sure I'd wear it, but I love the design and the quality was superb. And because she might have been cold in that drafty window, her two still-life friends were all wooled up with accessories to spare:

Have you spotted anything cool lately?

SPOTTED

...on the Boulevard Beaumarchais in Paris last month.

A very retro looking cardigan sweater in the Harley Davidson Bastille shop window.

I love the simple gray wool and reverse stockinette with big ribbing and over-sized collar. This would be an easy DIY project!

Have you spotted anything cool lately?

Cezanne Bags

The other day we received our shipment of Cezanne knitting bags from Jordana Paige. We got all four beautiful colors - Stone Gray, Mediterranean Teal, Bordeaux and Poppy:

Poppy was the crowd favorite because we sold 2 the very day we took them down into the shop. Sorry! But the other 3 colors are gorgeous, too, and the Poppy will be back in stock after the holiday.

Sleek Back View with One Large Pocket

This bag looks like leather but is actually synthetic, which is easier on the wallet than leather, and a bonus for those of you who don't like to use leather products. It's got a ton of useful pockets and compartments, including a row of 7 pockets for tools and needles and two small interior zippered pockets.

3 Front Pockets

In case you wanted more internal features in this bag, there's also a key loop, three credit card slots, a removable zipper pouch, two circlets™ to prevent your yarn from tangling, a yarn pocket below each circlet™, two small outside pockets, and one large outside pocket at front and back. The bag closes neatly and securely with a metal turn clasp closure, and the adjustable shoulder strap is removable, just in case you want to carry it like a briefcase.

Pockets, pockets, pockets!

If you're ordering this and must have it for the holidays, please remember to choose an expedited shipping method for guaranteed delivery. And if you're local, come on in and grab one before they go.

Of course we've been selling a ton of gift certificates for our local customers, so you can always come in and grab one from our next shipment, after the holidays.

SPOTTED

...in a friend's entry hall in Nokia, Finland.

What goes better with winter boots than hand knit socks?

Everyone in Finland KNOWS it's proper etiquette to remove your shoes when you go into someone's house or apartment. Usually the socks stay on, but I'm thinking that this little guy may have gotten some snow down his boots when outside playing. So off they came (with his boots) and they're getting a chance to dry off a bit!

Have you spotted anything cool lately?

Great News for Cotton Fans!

Just in, Seedling Hand Paints! 

Classic Elite Seedling has been a popular worsted weight cotton in the solid shades for the past couple of years. Now we've brought in 6 beautiful hand painted shades.

Seedling is a machine washable organic cotton with a nubbly texture. The organic fiber is more robust and less stressed by chemicals than non-organic cotton, which increases its absorbency and color intensity. It's popular in garments for both adults and children. 

How fun would this sweater be with a coordinating hand paint shade thrown in?

Get the Look

The mannequin's loving her look today! This vest is gorgeous and was really fun to knit. I wrote about it in this blog and the vest is now on display in the shop. Come on in and try it on!

It looks great when closed with a shawl pin, and the back is eye-catching with its spiral design.

Vest: Fortune's Wheel Vest knit with 1 Dyelot Yarns Stimulus Package

Necklace: Nelkin Designs Ribband Kit

Bracelet: Shaune Bazner 10-in-1 Convertible

SPOTTED

...in a magazine recently. 

A funky knitted & knotted pillow/chair cushion. 

I'm thinking this could be really fun to make. Although I'd attempt it on a smaller scale first... perhaps some I-cord that I could fashion into a little holiday ornament?

What cool things have YOU spotted recently?

Enchanted with Enchanted

Two new Kim Hargreaves books have been delivered to the shop and as usual, they are full of wonderful pieces to make!

The books are named Quirky and Enchanted, and they each have instructions for 21 beautiful designs. There are so many that I'd love to start right away! There are 4 in the Enchanted book that I'm seriously considering.

The Covet cowl is made with Rowan Kidsilk Haze. Lightweight, yet cozy, it can be worn and a cowl or pulled up around the head as a hood.

The Mystic Sweater is also made with Kidsilk Haze. It's got beads and is absolutely elegant, but would also look nice without the beads. Your choice!

Fate is a long collared sweater made with Rowan Alpaca Cotton. This worsted weight yarn is soft and warm... and machine washable. It's one of the coziest yarn in the shop.

Siren is a contour hugging ribbed sweater knit with Rowan Lima. This yarn is a worsted weight chainette construction. I like it both ways - with and without the belt!

Time to make some decisions!

SPOTTED

...in a women's clothing boutique in Paris, France.

OH MY GOSH do I love a lace weight sweater knit at a loose gauge!

Sometimes a basic stockinette stitch is the most wonderful thing. Especially when it's done in a trendy seasonal color!